83 test positive on 50th day of lockdown

Kathmandu, May 12

As many as 83 people tested positive of coronavirus today, making it the largest single-day surge, taking the national tally for coronavirus infected to 217. Today is the 50th day of the nationwide lockdown that was imposed to check the spread of COVID-19 on March 24.

Fifty-seven of those who tested positive for the virus today are from Parsa, nine from Rupandehi, eight from Kapilvastu, two each from Mahottari, Dhanusha and Bhaktapur and one each from Kathmandu, Sarlahi and Bara district.

“Among the 57 who tested positive in Parsa, two are journalists,” said Lalit Kumar Basnet, assistant chief district officer at District Administration Office, Parsa. This is the first time that a journalist has tested positive for the virus in Nepal. “Fifty-eight people, including the one Birgunj resident who tested positive in Bara, have been brought to Narayani Hospital, Birgunj, for treatment. All of them are asymptomatic,” said Medical Superintendent at Narayani Hospital Madan Kumar Upadhyaya.

“Parsa patients’ samples were collected after tracing contacts of a person who tested positive in Chhapkaiya earlier,” said Upadhyaya.

Coronavirus infected people in Parsa district include a 12-year-old boy.

“Contact tracing of persons who tested positive will begin tomorrow morning,” said Birgunj Metropolitan City Mayor Vijay Kumar Sarawagi.

“Seven of those who tested positive for COVID-19 in Kapilvastu are migrant labourers and had returned from Maharashtra, India, 10 days ago. They were in quarantine in Buddha Padma Secondary School,” said Ganesh Nepali, assistant chief district officer at District Administration Office, Kapilvastu

“Persons testing positive in Rupandehi are also migrant workers and had returned from Mumbai on May 6. They are aged between 17 and 50 years. They were in quarantine in a hostel of Lumbini Buddhist University. All nine of them are asymptomatic,” said Kedarnath Shah, vector control inspector at Health Office, Rupandehi.

Those who tested positive in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur have been admitted to Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 13, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.